Two parts bowed (but will straighten
out upon assembly); more instruction diagrams would have been nice

Recommendation:

Highly Recommended for anyone
building an Academy F-111.

Reviewed by Brett Green

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FirstLook

Academy's 1/48 scale F-111 kits seem to suffer the same poor-cousin
reputation compared to other modern aircraft, especially the F-14, as its
full sized counterpart. Although the model is generally accurate in
outline and impressively large when completed, I have not seen the model
completed very often. Even here on HyperScale, with over 1,000 articles,
there is just a sole 1/48 scale Academy F-111 (an FB-111A by Scott
Persons).

Scaledown Models of Australia has single handedly provided eleven great
excuses to break that Academy 1/48 scale F-111 out of its box with a
growing range of resin accessories.

Casting on all these resin sets is excellent. Surprisingly, there are no
casting blocks on any of the resin parts. Scaledown must have removed the
plugs and cleaned them up before shipping. Furthermore, there was evidence
of an air bubble that has been spotted and repaired before packing too.
Now that is what I call customer service!

I bought four of these accessory sets to jazz up my RAAF F-111G project,
and Stephen Thrum from Scaledown kindly packed the remaining sets for
review.

SDA48001 - F-111 Long-Span Wings / Flaps / Slats

This long-span wing set with dropped slats and flaps was the accessory
that drew my attention to Scaledown in the first place. These wings are
appropriate for any of the long-span F-111s. A specific set for the short
wing variants (F-111A, F-111E, F-111F, EF-111A) is also available from
Scaledown as item number SDA48008.

Scaledown has not taken any short cuts with their resin wing set. They
supply a full replacement full wing - a solid centre section for each -
plus separate leading edge slats plus separate inner and outer flaps.
These are very impressive castings. Wing box parts and glove vanes are
also provided in this set.

The breakdown of the parts means that the kit wings are simply thrown
away. The resin wings are ready to use - no cutting whatsoever. In fact,
the only modification to the kit is the removal of the moulded-on wing
glove vanes on the fuselage.

All the parts are very nicely cast, although there were some tiny pin
holes on the leading edge of the starboard wing. Also, the inner flaps had
bowed noticeably. However, these thin parts will correct themselves when
they are secured between the outer flaps and the main wing parts. The
larger parts are perfectly straight.

Construction will be quite simple. The wings are keyed to interleave
inside the fuselage, setting the correct (0%) dihedral and ensuring that
they are both fully extended. Once the wing boxes and wings are in place,
the slats are first added, then the two flap sections are attached before
securing them to the main wing.

I have already matched up the slats and flaps against the wing parts, and
my samples line up perfectly - no uneven shrinkage or other fit problems
have presented themselves at this stage.

This is a wonderful accessory that will transform your Academy F-111 into
a real discussion piece.

SDA48002 - F-111 Afterburner Cans

This
is a simple but effective replacement for Academy's exhausts.

This set comprises four afterburner cans (two open and two closed apertures)
and two jet pipes with detailed rear faces. The F-111 is commonly seen with one
open and one closed nozzle.

Once again, the parts are already cleaned up and ready to use. They are a
major improvement on Academy's nozzles.

SDA48003 Wheels - Standard

This is another drop-fit replacement for Academy's kit parts. The wheels are
beautifully detailed with appropriate bolt-head detail and radial tread pattern.
The wheels are slightly flattened and barely bulged. In fact, the bulge is so
subtle that the only reason I know it is there is because the Scaledown website
tells me so!

My samples are appropriate for F-111s without the heavy duty brakes. These
wheels have a much deeper wheel rim than the later, heavy duty version. The
heavy duty version is also available as SDA48003B.

These wheels will just need a swipe with a sanding stick before use.

SDA48004 - F-111G Conversion Set USD$7.50

The F-111G Conversion Set includes four correctly shaped pylons and an
accurate dump mast / 'figure of eight' panel for the tail of the aircraft.

These areas were quite different to the other versions of the F-111. I
will be starting to sound repetitive here, but the detail really is
terrific and the parts are ready to use.

SDA48006 - F-111 Undercarriage Doors

Another drop-fit replacement, ready to use.

F-111 Ordnance

All of the ordnance sets below are produced to the same high standard as
the other accessories. All sets also include two ejection racks (except
the SRAMs).

These ordnance sets will add character and individuality to your F-111
model.

FirstLook

These accessory sets will lift your Academy 1/48 scale F-111 from the
realm of standard kits to something really special. I particularly
recommend the wing set in combination with the appropriate wheels,
conversion set and burners.